By Sunday Ani
Thousands of students of the Federal Polytechnic, Oko, Anambra State, yesterday, took to the streets to protest the prolonged strike by members of the Academic Staff Union of Polytechnics (ASUP).
The local chapter of ASUP has been on strike for the past one month. The aggrieved students blocked the entrance to the polytechnic and chanted protest songs, demanding an immediate resumption of normal academic activities.
They defied the early morning rain as they displayed placards with inscriptions: “Call off the strike now,” “The strike is sponsored by Kawu Boys,” “Remove Kawu now or Blood will flow,” and “One week warning strike now one month old,” among others.
Spokesman of the students, Azoba Ekene Solomon of Mass Communication Department, lamented that the strike came shortly after the COVID-19 lockdown, thereby further interrupting the academic calendar which had suffered because of the Coronavirus pandemic. He said it has been a frustrating experience and demanded an end to the industrial action.
The students called on the Federal Government to urgently remove the Council Chairman of the institution, Kale Kawu, claiming that his leadership style has destroyed the peace of the institution.
The students wondered why Kawu was reappointed after the former Council, where he played a controversial role as a member, was dissolved in 2019.
Rector of the Polytechnic, Dr. Francisca Nwafulugo, who was caught off guard by the protest, appealed to the students to remain calm, assuring that issues of contention between ASUP and the management were gradually being resolved. She said management has resolved all pending issues, except arrears of allowances for excess workload, which has been a national issue, not peculiar to the institution alone. She assured the students that the Committee of Federal Rectors (COFER) has taken up the issue with the Federal Government and promised that the polytechnic management was working tirelessly to bring ASUP back to the classroom.
Nwafulugo directed that academic activities should commence on Monday, August 30.
It was learnt that efforts to get the Kawu to visit the Polytechnic and douse the tension among the striking ASUP members have failed. It was reported that the Chairman cited security reasons, and reportedly directed the transportation of ASUP members and polytechnic management to Abuja to meet him for discussion.